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Why haven't you rated the most recent vintage in the region I'm interested in? I'm already seeing some of the wines on store shelves.

Modified on: Wed, 1 Oct, 2014 at 6:12 PM

In most cases, we taste hundreds of wines before rating a vintage; at a minimum, for small subregions, we sample dozens of wines. For some wine types, blind tastings may take place over a period of years, so it takes longer to reach a final evaluation of the vintage.

For example, red Bordeaux may first be tasted while the young wines are in barrel; in that case, we provide a preliminary score range. Then, when the wines are released in bottle two years later, we blind taste them again. Other wines, such as California Cabernet, may be released over a three-year period, depending on how long their winery ages them. Though produced in the same region from the same variety, wines made in a style meant for early drinking may be on sale at retailers before top wines meant for aging have even been bottled.